Not applicable.
Not applicable.
Not applicable.
The present invention relates to devices for dispensing sandwiches. More particularly, the present invention relates to holding devices for dispensing the sandwich during the consumption of the sandwich.
Eating a sandwich is often a messy affair. Long French bread sandwiches, commonly known as xe2x80x9cheroxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9csubxe2x80x9d sandwiches, are particularly difficult to eat without liquid and other sandwich material falling from the sandwich.
Conventionally, such sandwiches are placed in a common bag or in the bag formed of a wrap of water resistant paper. As the sandwich is eaten, the consumer must move the remaining sandwich upwardly and crush or neck-down the bag or wrap below the bottom end of the sandwich. Such manipulation of the sandwich and bag is undesirable as the sandwich itself must often be handled by the consumer hands thereby soiling the hands or the sandwich or both. Sandwich parts always fall down into the bag and are squeezed and crushed and not eaten. In manipulating the sandwich to a higher position, sandwich parts often fall out anyway.
It is also extremely difficult to eat such a sandwich while driving. The two handed manipulation of the wrapper for such a sandwich is often difficult or impossible while the driver has his or her hands on the steering wheel of a vehicle. Often, the driver will place the sandwich on his or her lap while driving, thereby soiling his or her clothing. In other circumstances, accidents can occur by the undue manipulation of the sandwich by the driver. In any event, the eating of a sandwich while driving often is a very messy and complicated matter.
In the past, various U.S. patents have issued for devices relating to the dispensing of food products. In particular, U.S. Pat. No. 2,157,476, issued on May 9, 1939 to R. A. Brodesser, describes a dispensing container for food. This dispensing container includes a tubular member having a disk portion affixed therein. The disk member has a pair of arms extending outwardly of slots formed in the wall of the tubular member. The tubular member has a first open end and second open end. In particular, by moving the arms forwardly in the slot, the dispensing container can move ice cream, and other foodstuffs, outwardly of the open end of the container.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,248,843, issued on Jul. 8, 1941 to H. D. Atwood, teaches a lifting strip bag using a lifting strip for pulling the sandwich progressively from the bag as it is being eaten. The lifting strip is fashioned from a ribbon of sheet material doubled upon itself to form separate legs of unequal length. This strip is located within the bag and extends longitudinally with its folded end at the bottom of the bag and the end portion of the strip legs extending toward the mouth of the bag. The user will grip the flap and underlying strip leg between his or her thumb and forefinger and then slide the thumb along to pull the strip leg upwardly into a desired position. During such movement of the strip leg, the shorter strip leg is buckled so that the outer wall of the bag is thrust outward and the bag mouth opened.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,003,207, issued on Oct. 10, 1961 to C. Powers, describes a sandwich holder having a substantially circular pad portion with a pair of opposed integral strips. Each of the strips has a width substantially less than the diameter of the pad and notched adjacent their ends on opposite sides. A third integral strip extends from the pad portion at right angles to the first strip that is provided adjacent its ends with notches between extensions. The strip can then be lifted so as to expose the sandwich.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,589,533, issued on May 20, 1986 to P. Ferrero, describes a package for a rigid or semi-rigid food product that has a wrapper sheet which encloses the product and which can be torn along a transverse rupture line. The package includes a take-up member which at least partly surrounds the portion of the wrapper sheet between one end of the product and the rupture line. As a result, the product can be held for consumption.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,821,906, issued on Apr. 18, 1989 to C. Clark, describes an ice cream cone guard formed of a conical receptacle for supporting a cone. A shield is mounted in a slide for variable extension relative to the receptacle. The slide is mounted on a portion of a cylinder affixed to the receptacle with a protrusion on the slide provided so as to allow for manipulation by the user.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,940,190, issued on Jul. 10, 1990 to M. C. Groves, teaches a container for food having an open portion or an openable portion for presenting the food for consumption. A panel is provided with at least a partially frangible portion that can be urged from a position co-planar with a panel to a position extending outwardly of the panel such that when the portion is moved to the extended position, the food can be moved toward the open portion of the container.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,042,666, issued on Aug. 27, 2001 to T. Dolene, teaches a foldable sandwich bag having a wall of laminated structure and an outer wrap securely attached thereto to form a laminate. The outer layer is made of a thicker, stronger and tear-resistant material. The outer layer is configured in segments that can be tom away, along with the attached inner layer, to reveal the contents of the bag. The bag can be laminated in a flat configuration and formed into a bag with overlapping vertical seams and having a vertical separation between segments.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,956, issued on Oct. 1, 1994 to E. P. Wilson, describes a chewing gum dispenser designed to hold a standard pack of gum sticks. The dispenser has an internal sliding ejector with an attached, thumb-operated actuator protruding through a slot in the side of the dispenser body. In operation of the dispenser, the dispenser is held in one hand while the thumb slips open the hinged cap and subsequently moves the actuator and ejector forward so as to expose the end of the gum and make it available for grasping with the other hand. The remaining gum is then retracted by moving the actuator back with the thumb.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,261,611, issued on Jul. 17, 2001 to R. E. Berman, teaches a hand-held food package that enables heterogeneous foods to be shipped, stored and heated in the same disposable package. A handle is provided which will push the contents of the container outwardly of the open end of the container.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a device for dispensing sandwiches which allows the sandwiches to be consumed in a convenient and easy manner.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a device for dispensing sandwiches that allows the sandwich to be exposed from a container progressively as the sandwich is consumed.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a device for dispensing sandwiches which prevents the liquid contents of the sandwich from being released from the container.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a device for dispensing sandwiches which can be easily used while driving a vehicle.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a device for dispensing sandwiches which is disposable.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a device for dispensing sandwiches which is easy to use, relatively inexpensive and easy to manufacture.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a reading of the attached specification and appended claims.
The present invention is a device for dispensing sandwiches comprising a tubular body having an oval cross-section and a disk member positioned interior of the tubular body. The tubular body has a slot extending longitudinally along and through a wall of the tubular body. The disk member has an arm extending outwardly therefrom. This arm extends outwardly of the tubular body through the slot.
In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the wall of the tubular body is flexible. The tubular body has a closed end and an open end. The disk member is positioned adjacent to the closed end. The disk member is a solid planar member extending transverse to a longitudinal axis of the tubular body.
The slot comprises a first slot extending along and through the wall of the tubular body and a second slot extending along and through the wall of the tubular body on an opposite side of the tubular body from the first slot. The arm comprises a first arm extending through the first slot, and a second arm extending through the second slot.
In the present invention, a fixing means is positioned interior of the tubular body. This fixing means serves to set a position of the disk member within the tubular body along a length of the tubular body. The fixing means comprises a guide rod positioned within the tubular body adjacent to a wall of the tubular body. The disk member is slidably attached to the guide rod. The guide rod has a plurality of ratcheting elements. These ratcheting elements are suitable for retaining the disk member at a desired position within the tubular body along the longitudinal axis of the tubular body. The guide rod extends for less than an entire length of the tubular body.
A spring hook can be affixed to an exterior surface of the wall of the tubular body so as to allow the tubular body to be detachably affixed to dashboards, car doors, desk drawers, etc.
Within the concept of the present invention, the term xe2x80x9csandwichxe2x80x9d can encompass a wide variety of food items. In particular, within the concept of the present invention, the term xe2x80x9csandwichxe2x80x9d can include the hero or sub-type sandwiches. Additionally, and furthermore, the term sandwich can refer to items such as hamburgers and hot dogs and various other types of elongated sandwich types.